1. The eighth virtual planning meetings for the National and Regional IGF Initiatives’ (NRIs) Substantive Session at the IGF 2016, took place during the week of 25 July. Due to the challenges of different time zones, and in agreement with the NRIs coordinators, two virtual meetings on the same subject agenda were hosted, but in different times, for the purposes of the coordinators and members of all regions to join the meetings in appropriate hours. The meetings were held on: Monday, 25 July 2016, at 08:00 a.m. UTC, [referred to as Meeting M1 in this document] while the second meeting was on Friday, 29 July 2016 at 14:00 p.m. UTC [referred to as Meeting M2 in this document].

2. Both meetings were hosted by Ms. Anja Gengo from the IGF Secretariat and moderated by Ms. Marilyn Cade, MAG Member and NRIs Substantive Coordinator. This Summary Report will reflect the content of both meetings.

3. The agenda is attached to this document as Appendix A1 and a list of Meeting Participants as Appendix A2. Appendix A3 includes a list of other relevant documents, as referenced in this report.

SUMMARY REPORT

Introductions and Agenda adoption

4. Participants introduced themselves stating which NRI they are affiliated with, and were asked to share any updates on their Initiatives’ activities and future plans.

5. The Host shared the agenda with everyone. During the Meeting M1, under last agenda item, Any other Business (AoB), the substantive coordinator suggested to add brief updates from the NRIs that attended the Second Open Consultations and MAG Meeting in New York, that later, in case needed, might be submitted into the MAG list. During the Meeting M2, under AoB it was recommended to add a discussion segment that will be focused on determining who is coming to the IGF 2016 meeting in Mexico and how we support increased awareness of the presence of the members of the NRIs network at the IGF2016.

6. All suggestions were fully endorsed and agenda unanimously adopted.
Debrief from the Second Open Consultations and MAG Meeting and the IGF Retreat

7. During the Meeting M1, the Host invited the MAG members, that attended the Second Open Consultations and MAG Meeting, to join in providing a brief summary of the discussion, that reflected the NRIs, in particular. During the second Meeting, M2, the MAG Chair, Ms. Lynn St. Amour, joined the call and debriefed about this agenda item.

8. Participants were informed that the report from the 2nd MAG Meeting has been published on the IGF website. Post-meeting phase is ongoing, where the focus is on continuation of the program preparations for the IGF annual meeting.

9. Participants were also briefed that an in-depth discussion about the workshop selection process took place at the MAG meeting. With stressing that all 250+ received workshops were evaluated, it was pointed out that around 150 of them were accepted, with these record being publicly available on the IGF website, here. It was explained that the system of tags was used, as opposed to the themes, where the intention was to give the community more opportunity to define the overall program of the IGF.

10. Establishment of a Working Group on WS selection improvements is under discussion. It is planned to start immediately without waiting for the 3rd MAG Meeting. The intention is to include other participants, and not only MAG members. This process for creating the Working Group and its Terms of Reference is still being developed.

11. It was noted that Open Forums and Main Sessions still require some work to be finalized.

12. Participants were reminded that the NRIs main session proposal was submitted to the MAG. The proposal is accepted in its initial form. A copy was shared with the Participants and the structure and content explained, as summarized in the main session dedicated segment of this report.

13. While debriefing about the IGF Retreat, is was emphasized that the Retreat is the beginning of the global discussion on the IGF and Internet Governance (IG) and the next nine years of the IGF. The outcome of the IGF Retreat in the form of a written proceedings, is published. A slightly edited, cleaned version for public comments by section is published as a separate document, to foster public discussion.

14. It was reminded that there is a two month period to comment on the above mentioned documents, with the main goal of understanding feedback from the IG community on the next 10 years work stream.

15. During the Meeting M1, one participant commented that the NRIs are organic, independent and unique in its organization and they should stay like this. They have their specificities and the Retreat document should be treated as a set of potential guidelines, not as recommendations or any kind of work prescriptions.

16. Related to the above, during the Meeting M2, the Chair pointed out that anything coming out of a Retreat has a nature of an idea or suggestion, not recommendation and not decision. This is due to the fact that only 40 people have been discussing the agenda items, all in order to create a basis for further, full consultations. All stakeholders have to be aware that this Retreat did not capture all ideas, which is the reason to ask for additional comments and suggestions from everyone, by using a comment press platform.

17. On the process of a Retreat participants’ selection, it was explained that the stakeholders selected majority of the participants, with UNDESA filled up the remaining seats, in order for the geographical diversity to be respected. The representatives of various IGOs attended, as well. Key participants were invited, taking into account the most experienced in terms of years they spent with IGF, but also the ones that just recently joined the IGF network.

18. The meeting itself was managed and supported by UNDESA and the IGF Secretariat, but it was facilitated by the Participants. The facilitators and rapporteurs were Participants.

19. At the end, all participants were invited to submit their feedback by commenting on the Proceedings content by 26 September 2016 [details on an online version for comment attached as Appendix A3].

Discussion on the Main Session Preparations

20. The overall structure of the proposal, in its initial form as submitted to the MAG, was presented [attached as Appendix A3].

21. It was reminded that the fixed request for the NRI Main Session are the format, which is a round table and length of the event, which is a 180 minutes long session.

22. The participants were reminded that the session is composed of three main sections, as explained below:
• The first segment will offer a very brief overview of the current status of the NRIs landscape. It was explained that the Secretariat will help in providing the current record on the number of the IGF initiative and other needed information relevant for illustrating the NRIs diversity, growth trend and purpose and. It was explained that the need for having this introduction arises from the fact that in the meeting room, there will be a lot of participants, observers that are not necessarily related or in any way familiar with the notion of the NRIs. From experience, it is estimated that the main rooms can accommodate up to 2,000 attendees. As an introduction, representatives from the Host Country will address the participants.
• The second and third part will be the main ones, where the second segment will address the substantive issues and topics, with allocating for each initiative approximately 3 minutes for presentation. Based on the received inputs form the NRIs, proposed topics are clustered into the following categories:

o Access/Enhancing the opportunities for the under-connected and un-connected from the perspective of the national and regional IGF initiatives (it includes the following proposed topics: Connecting the offline, Access to the universal service in rural areas, Internet and Sustainable Development, Creation and Development of Local Content, Open and easy access for all, Digital opportunity and minimize divide, Innovation and new application)
o Issues related to Secure, Resilient and Trusted Internet from the perspective of the national and regional IGF initiatives (it includes the following proposed topics: Digital trust, Presentation: the status of places of safety infrastructure and individuals on the Internet in Benin, Freedom of Internet, Secure Internet, Child Safety, The attack on privacy through the introduction of a mandatory authorization in Many public services and social networks under the way of so-called protection from fraud and theft of passwords of access)
o Others (it includes the following topics: Legal status for National and Regional initiative, Young people and the ecosystem of the Internet Governance, Threading through directives and laws to protect intellectual property of state control over information resources and electronic media).
Each theme will be assigned by a 45 minutes presentation segment.
• Third segment will aim for identifying the main challenges and solutions, presented by each of the scheduled NRIs speakers. The presenters will have 3-4 minutes for presentations. It was suggested that a Survey Monkey be distributed, so that the coordinators can submit their proposals regarding this segment. The Secretariat was called to assist here and conduct the process.
• The last, fourth segment will be a 10-15 minutes reserved time slot for a rapporteur(s) to read out the messages sent from the Session to the global IGF.
• Each of the above proposed segments will be supported by rapporteurs and co-moderators.

23. Concerns were raised about the proposed allocated minutes, explaining that having 3 minutes per speaker might not be enough. It was reminded the NRIs had followed different practices, like for example, having a 30 minutes time slots to sign up for, and make individual presentations. However, this resulted in not having equal representation of everyone and the overall treatment being unfair. As the experience from some of the main sessions from last year, like WSIS+10 session, showed that the lightening talk approach is a good practice, as it allows the speakers to make an effective presentation and for everyone to be equal represented, it was advised to use this methodology.

24. In reference to the above explained second segment, during the Meeting M2, some of the participants questioned the proposed themes, that originated from the submitted inputs of the NRIs to a public call sent out after the first MAG meeting in April, 2016

25. In answering these concerns, it was explained that on the last meeting, concerns were raise in a direction of avoiding the dispersion of the discussion and it was advised to find common, broad framework, that will serve as a general guideline for speakers’ positions.

26. Some of the participants expressed their opinion that the themes are broad enough so that they can fit in with their substantive topics, stemmed from their annual programs. One participant said that running a new survey calling for themes would be desirable. It was suggested to identify a few guiding questions, that everybody could respond to. This might help in enabling to see how the differences across the regions are reflected.

27. There was an agreement for the Secretariat to schedule a doodle poll for the participants to start confirming if they will attend the annual IGF meeting in Mexico. The main reason for this action step, is that the final allocation of time for speakers will depend on the total number of participants that will attend the session.

28. Depending on the total number of NRIs attendees, it was explained that the participants at the main session could fulfil roles of being a speaker in segment I, and being a co-moderator in segment II, in case they will not present in this last mentioned segment.

29. One participants raised a question if the moderators will be current MAG members. It was explained that this session is organized by and for the NRIs coordinators and members, thus only NRIs members will be assigned with a moderator role, or any other.

30. In reference to the participation of NRIs members from developing countries, several participants stated that a very serious obstacle for NRIs to participate, is a lack of funding. It was advised to start exploring all potential options for raising funding for attending the annual meeting.
Update on Tool Kit and Info Manual

31. The Participants were briefed about the new activities the work that the Secretariat is conducting on producing relevant publications about the NRIs formation’s and internal organization. It was explained that , reflecting their work. AN idea of developing a Tool Kit and an Info Manual was presented.

32. A Tool Kit will consist of relevant guidelines and instructions on how to establish an IGF initiative and it will explain the substance of the main IGF principles that need to be followed and applied in the NRIs overall work. It will reflect the internal organization of the initiatives and the mutual responsibilities between the NRIs and the IGF.

33. An Info Manual will be focused on gathering contributions on NRIs work and sharing good practices, along with ideas, examples and recommendations for future improvements. It will reflect the substantive organization of the NRIs annual event and new practices, all stemmed from the NRIs’ experience.

34. Participants welcomed the ideas and suggested to add the list of most frequently asked questions (FAQs).

35. Finally, it was noted that a Working Group might be organized. Participants were informed that a dedicated Virtual Meeting will be organized during the next week. The details will be shared through the NRIs mailing list.

AoB

36. As the next ICANN 57 meeting is scheduled to be in November in India, Hyderabad, the Secretariat was asked to gather information from the NRIs colleagues on who will attend, so that the traditional informal gathering can be organized.

37. Participants were reminded that a separate session for the NRIs will be organized at the IGF2016. The 90 minutes long session will be focused on the administrative and management tasks and issues. The Secretariat will assist in finding the nest possible time slot in the official schedule to position the session.
39. The Secretariat informed the participants that the new website will be launched soon, where the NRIs dedicated page will be improved. An interactive amp and a timeline of all NRIs events for this year will be published on the page.

Next Steps

40. The Secretariat will summarize the key suggestions raised during two meetings and will distribute the meeting summary during the week of 1 August.

41. A Survey Monkey for gathering the NRIs proposal on challenges and solutions for segment 3 of the Main NRI Session will be created and distributed in the next weeks.

42. Doodle Polls for gathering information about the NRIs attendance at ICANN 57 and the 2016 IGF annual meeting in Mexico, to be distributed.

43. Next meeting: The Secretariat will distribute the Doodle poll for the members of the NRIs to cast the votes for the best time slots for the two virtual calls, during the week of 15 - 25 August.

Planning the IGF 2016 Substantive Session: Virtual Meetings VIII: 25 and 29 July 2016
1. Debrief from the Open Consultations&MAG Meeting and the IGF Retreat
2. Continue with planning the NRIs Main Session
a) developing logistics on identifying the topics
b) how to identify the NRIs main challenges and propose solutions?
c) how to determine allocation of speaker slots across the NRIs?
3. Updates on developing the Tool Kit, Info Manual and NRIs Timeline of events
4. AoB

About. Following the recommendations from the IGF 2015 Substantive Session for national and regional IGF Initiatives (NRIs), the MAG 2016 approved a main session to be organized by the national and regional Initiatives for the IGF meeting in Mexico, from 6 to 9 December 2016.

Planning process. After the MAG accepted the proposal for the NRIs to have a main session at the IGF 2016, the preparation process started immediately. Using the WebEx IGF accounts and the official mailing list of the all NRIs coordinators and members, regular (bi)monthly meetings were held in order to gather the inputs for establishing the work plan for the session. A public call (referred here as an online survey) for inputs on ideas for format, issues to be addressed as well as to identify the expectations of the NRIs for their main session, was launched.
Results from the online survey were used as an input for discussion during the virtual meetings. The further discussion was based primarily on these inputs. Exact selection of the issues for discussion is still under development but there is strong support for an opening segment that explains who the NRIs are and what their general purpose is. This will then be followed by mini sessions that focus on specific topics. An effort to be inclusive of as many NRI coordinators as possible, is being examined. At present there is a general agreement on organizing a session that will be physically divided into several segments, as described below.

Format and Proposed Content for the Session. The NRIs that responded to the Public Call for suggesting inputs for organizing a main session indicated that the format of the session should be a Round Table. This was supported by the wider NRIs community, as it was discussed on the virtual meetings and later shared in a summary report with all members, using the coordinator's mailing list.
As mentioned, the 180 minutes long session is divided into segments, as described below:

Introduction: Welcoming comments from Host Country (up to 10 minutes)

- Presentation of a State of the NRIs Landscape (approximately 10 minutes)
An overview report of the NRI Landscape and its growth will be presented.

Presentation of the two topics that are of a common interest (approximately 90 minutes)

a) Presentation of the first topic (approximately 45 minutes)
b) Presentation of the second topic (approximately 45 minutes)
The call for determining the common topics will be launched in the next ten days from now. The received proposals will be clustered and the most common extracted. After, the coordinators will be asked to send a summary on the substantive issues above, from the position of their Initiative. The total duration of the presentation per each Initiative depends on the information on the final number of the NRIs representatives that will be present onsite. Additionally, it is a subject for discussion on how to facilitate the presentations of the Initiatives that cannot be present onsite. They will either participate using online facilities or their written inputs will be gathers, summarized and presented during this session segment.

Open Floor for comments and questions on the above (approximately 15 minutes)
After the Initiatives present their points on the substantive issues, an open comment period for comments and suggestion from the audience will be open.

Identifying challenges and recommendations (approximately 30 minutes)
This segment will be dedicated to the Initiatives addressing their main challenges in their work, in line with proposing potential solutions for overcoming these. It is estimated that each Initiative who is selected to speak by the NRIs will have a maximum of 3 minutes for presentation of identified issues and proposed solutions. There will be an effort to have diversity across the full set of over 60 NRIs, as not all can speak in this slot.

Open Floor for comments and questions on the above (approximately 10 minutes)

This segment will allow the audience to comment and ask questions regarding the identified challenges above.

Rapporteurs: Defining the Messages from the NRIs and Conclusions (15 minutes)

There will be a maximum of five rapporteurs, that will be positioned close to the moderators and will take notes on each of the segment. The key points presented during the meeting will be gathered and presented in a form of messages sent to the IGF on defining the set of actions and the potential way forward.
This short reading out segment that draws from the work of five rapporteurs will be a preliminary update, that will then be finalized for the IGF meeting report.
Social Media. Live online tweeting will be strongly encouraged and the organizers will create a unique NRIs hashtag for this session.

NRIs Booth at the IGF Village. The NRIs will host a shared Booth at the IGF Village. The schedule on the time allocation per Initiative is in a developing phase. Promotional material will be created, starting from the NRIs World Map that indicates the geographical distribution of the Initiatives, to the printed information materials that will contain all basic information about each of the Initiatives that submit information to the IGF Secretariat and/or to the Substantive Coordinator.

Planning process. As indicated above, the planning process was conducted after the MAG approved for the NRIs to organize the main session and will be continued until the Meeting, using the same methodology: running (bi)monthly virtual meetings and collecting inputs from all Initiatives using the NRIs mailing list.